about second chances and this november i could not agree more. so in the spirit of the season, i have one more gift to give and it goes to a pair of turkeys named cobbler and gobbler. the american people have spoken and these birds are moving forward love this bird. for the first time in our history, the winners of the white house turkey pardon were chosen through a highly competitive online vote. and, once again, nate silver completely nailed it. the guy's amazing. >> after his brief remarks, the president and his daughters sasha and malia teamed up for the official pardon. >> what do you think, do you

want to give it a shot? >> yeah. >> all right. you are hereby pardoned. >> today the president was kind and merciful. but he may not be so nice with the republican. turns out, speaker john boehner is back to his old tricks, refusing to compromise in the debt talks and holding the middle class hostage. even right after the election two weeks ago, he was all sunshine and smiles. >> i'm the most reasonable, responsible person here in washington. the president knows this. he knows that he and i can work together. the election is over, now it's time to get to work. it's pretty clear that the

president was re-elected. obama care is the law of the land. >> i'm reasonable. i'm responsible. obama care's the law of the land. now, there's a guy the president can work with, right? wrong. politico says that boehner's opening offer to the president is to keep the bush tax cuts, cut entitlements, and postpone cuts to the pentagon. in other words, they haven't budged at all. how is that compromise? how is that reasonable? but it gets worse. speaker boehner now says the health care law should go under the knife. boehner says, quote, we can't afford it. we can't afford to leave it in tact. that's why i've been clear that the law has to stay on the table as both parties discuss ways to solve our nation's massive debt challenge. folks, this debate is over.

the american people have spoken. mitt romney ran on two big ideas in this campaign. cut the taxes and reveal our obama care. he lost. those ideas lost. but they didn't learn a thing. joining me now is congressman keith ellison, democrat for minnesota. he's co-chair of the progressive caucus. and former pennsylvania governor ed rendell, now an nchl bc news political analyst. thank you both for joining me tonight. >> glad to be here, al. >> good to be here. >> congressman, let me start with you. what is your are reaction to speaker boehner's claim that the health care law should be on the table in these debt talks? >> well, it's ridiculous. there's been a national mandate to keep the health care law. he said that he was going to repeal it on day one and everybody in america knew it. so what is speaker john boehner talking about? here's the thing. we always knew it was going to be a tough fight.

i think the american people need to step up and remind the republicans what they said in the campaign. and that means that the election is one thing but active citizenship is another and these guys are going to try to balance this fiscal slump on the backs of the most vulnerable. we are not going to be able to tolerate that. it's time for folks to start writing, calling, and letting their voices be heard one more time to make sure that this thing is done right. >> now, governor rendell, is immediately rejecting boehner's omnicare ploy. i'm quoting what they said. it's a total nonstarter. boehner's office knows that. so even bringing it up is counterproductive. is it counterproductive? and why are they bringing this up, governor? >> well, first of all, let's make one thing clear. the cbo has said definitively that the affordable health care

act will not increase the federal deficit. they said it will reduce it slightly. ten years slightly and 20 years significantly. it's complete bs to say that this has any deficit implications. it doesn't. this is just a smoke screen. it's a red herring. it's another excuse for not doing what needs to be done. the american people have spoken. the central issue in the campaign was not only tax fairness but raising taxes on the top 2% as a means to help us balance -- get rid of the deficit and eat into the debt. and the american people have said, yes, that's one of the components of the deal. so this is just another smoke screen. it's a delaying tactic. i truly believe that if they keep this up they will pay for it and they will pay for it big time, certainly in the election of 2014. but the sad part is, the nation and people can't wait. we've got to resolve this debt

because if we do so, rev, will cause the economy to explode. we will see a resurge in investment, good things happening for the economy. >> congressman ellison, with all of that at stake and clear from every expert that we've heard, it's clear that if we don't solve this problem, if we have the fiscal cliff, if we go over at the end of the year, that we go back into a recession, why would boehner be doing this? i mean, you look at the polls. 49% people polled say keep or expand obama care. only 33% say repeal it. that's the lowest percent for repealing the law since march 10th of 2010. so why would boehner even play with this. >> he's afraid of the special interest. remember, they were spending $14 million a day to lobby against obama care, which i'm glad we've

embraced that term. the reality is the special interests who don't want to pay any tacks or as little as they can, who don't want to reform health care. they are still there. all of those guys who signed those pledges for grover norquist, they are still around. i think the and tea party was a fleeting moment. they are here one moment and gone the next. but the intrinsic interests who always want to push more and more of the costs of running society on the people who can least afford it, they haven't gone anywhere. that's why i said before, this is an organizing moment and we have an opportunity to pull americans together to drive this thing. i think it's a good time to start thinking about some protests and some folks calling for a fair deal for the american people to resolve these fiscal

matters. because left on their own, boehner is going to dig in and stand up for the special interests, as he always does. >> now, governor, the congressman mentioned rush limbaugh. limbaugh stands by grover norquist. listen to this. >> a friend of mine sends me a note and says, listen, there's going to be pressure brought to drive a wedge between you and grover norquist. >> i steadfastly oppose tax increases on one group of americans. if we're going to raise taxes, we are going to do them on everybody. i don't think everybody's taxes ought to be raised. >> now, is this what they are afraid of, grover norquist, rush limbaugh, governor? is this because they feel they have an undue influence on their base, especially mr. limbaugh? >> yeah, there's no question. look, every rational thinking in

mrk, no matter what side they are on, they know that they have got to do something about the debt and it's got to include revenue. if you get rid of a tax loophole, that's raising taxes. he sent a letter to tom cobuln and said you can't do that because when you eliminate a tax loophole that's eliminating taxes and tom coburn sent a letter back sending him to pound sand and we need -- and i think representative ellison knows this better than i do. there are good republicans out there. >> no doubt. >> who i believe are not going to take the lead of this delaying and ofiscating leadership. you can name some of the house i'm sure, keith. so we've got to be willing to move this country ahead and know that that means entitlement cuts, spending cuts, and

increasing revenues. >> they are not only good republicans, they are good politicians because when you look at grover's losers, candidates who sign, there's no type of pledge. so many lost. 24 republicans for the senate, 55 republicans for the house to sign that pledge lost. it doesn't even make good political sense anymore. >> you know, reverend, can i just add, i think when you call on members of congress to do right by the american people but i'm even asking for chambers of commerce in the business community to tell their people in congress, solve this financial mess. let's get together, do something that makes sense, let's protect the vulnerable, let's make sure that we get revenue for people who have are it and, you know, the defense is going to have to take some cuts and let's get this thing done. >> i hope people at the dinner table tomorrow start talking about it with their families. congressman ellison, governor rendell, thanks. and have a great thanksgiving.

>> thank you, happy thanksgiving to you, rev. coming up, is mitt romney hanging out at the happiest place on earth, his former friends are back stabbing him. and now we're finding out what the haters were doing the friday night before the election. plus, it's a smackdown. chris christie shows he's willing to work with president obama so he's the gop's public enemy number one. can christie take down rush limbaugh? and i have a very, very special thanksgiving surprise at the end of the show. trust me, you will not want to miss this. you're watching "politicsnation" on msnbc. [ male announcer ] research suggests cell health plays a key role

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everyone is talking about today's turkey pardon at the white house. and it was nice to see the kids. a fun tradition. harry raises a good point. you mean the gop didn't filibuster this? and maryanne jokes, when the turkey said he pardoned a hurdle key, i thought they meant. "like" us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. i thou. "like" us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. though. "like" us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. ey mea. "like" us to join the conversation that keeps going long after the show ends. [ male announcer ] introducing the new dell xps 12. part of a whole new line of tablets from dell. it's changing the conversation.

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we're back on "politicsnation" with the number of the day. here's a hint. it's mitt romney's favorite. the number of the day is 47. that's how much of the popular vote mitt romney is now projected to have won. pretty funny, right? what are the chances that mr. 47% is literally number 47? it's a fitting end point to the mitt romney experience. governor romney knows that it's all over. he's enjoying some time on the rides at disneyland but as he's taking in the fun, his former friends are politically backstabbing him. it's a full war. today, one of romney's top policy advisers revealed what was really going on with all of the romney haters.

>> watching some of these republican officials now trashing mitt romney, the friday night before the election, we were in cincinnati, hundreds of romney top surrogates at the event. i'm backstage with them and they are you canning about him like he's a reagan and is going to win in four or five days and in fact some are positioning themselves for a romney cabinet. and i won't say who they are. they know who they are. they were on television. it's unbelievable. five, six days later absolutely eviserating him. >> wow. pull back the curtain and what do you see? a whole bunch of phonies. don't be fooled, they haven't learned any lessons. joining me now is ana marie cox and ryan grim. thanks to you both for being here tonight.

>> good to be here. >> ana, don senior says that they are phonies. what do you make of this? >> what do i make of them being phony? that's a shock, of course. you have to pull back the curtain to see if they are phony. one thing we saw in this election was plenty of people saying two thing at a different sides of their mouths, sort of back to back. we didn't have to uncover very much to see the phoniness. i think what is ironic here is that they have at least campaigned for them in some way running away from them. they are not running to anything he will. i don't feel like the republican party has figured out what it is that they do want. it's early yet. but they definitely -- all they figured out is he was toxic. he was toxic before but now they are allowed to say that, i guess. >> that's a good point because when romney made his gift comments, a slew of his former surrogates and top surrogates came out and tore them apart.

but take a listen to this. >> we are in a big hole. we are not getting out of it by comments like that. he keeps digging. >> if we want people to like us, we have to like them first. you don't insult them by saying that their votes were bought. >> now, these are his surrogates tearing him apart after the gift statement but he didn't say anything about that when he was talking about the 47%. why not? >> only when the two sides are -- >> let me go to you top respond to that, ana marie, while we get

ryan straight. >>. >> they figured out that romney didn't work. i think a lot of people figured out that romney was a toxic candidate before he actually lost. i think a lot of times you get caught p in the capped da see and people saw the writing on the wa the. people were paying attention to the poll numbers. what i'm surprised about is that people haven't thought about a path forward for the republican party. you can no longer win campaigning for the votes of white men. you have to campaign in a different america with different value. you can maybe argue about the delivery of government services, whether it's a capital system or less of a free market bias to it but you have to talk about taking care of everybody. you can't say that some people don't get health care. delivering health care to everyone, not just some people go to the emergency room. >> ryan, you're back with us now. is it maybe that they didn't

attack the 47% statement because dan senior is right, they were still holding out that they might win and wanted to be in the cabinet or wanted some assignment and when he made the gift statement he had already lost so there was nothing for opportunists to lose at that point? >> right. that's exactly what they are doing. you know, they kind of ran this campaign the same way they've been running every presidential campaign since nixon's southern strategy, right through willy horton up until today. they probably knew this was the last time that they could run this play because of the changing demographics but they figured if we can eat one more out, let's take it. ana marie makes a good point. where are they going to go next? it's not like they got into this position by accident. you know, through this southern strategy, they've created a self-reinforcing ecosystem where you have conservative media and

a conservative base all feeding off each other. and that means that if anybody, if the base tries to move or somebody within the conservative media says, well, let's try to moderate a little bit, then that ecosystem expels that person because it's a threat to this giant industry that's been built up. fox news and all of the things that are around it. so it's going to be really difficult for them to take that final -- that final move and i think it's going to have to come from the top because the grassroot conservatives are so entrenched in the mainstream media. >> ryan, ana was saying that they have to reach out and republicans say that they want to reach out to everyone and being open-minded. but look at their record. they oppose the affordable care act. support privatizing social security, want to reverse student loan reform, refuse to raise tacks on the rich. against government welfare

spending. and, i mean, with these policy positions, how can we believe them? paul krugman says he doesn't trust the republicans so-called evolution. he said these new republicans we're told are willing to be more open-minded on cultural issues more understanding and skeptical on trickle-down economics is enough. so what should we call these republicans? i have a suggestion. why not call them democrats? >> that's right. they stand for a certain set of values and they have for a significant amount of time. and so, you know, if they deviate from that, then they are going to be called traitors by the people who remain. it's going to be a tremendous problem. and when you have policies that are unpopular, say, cutting medicare, social security, it doesn't help to, quote/unquote reach out. let's have a town hall and

explain why i'm going to cut your social security. it's not that people personally dislike the messenger. they don't like the message that you want to cut medicare or social security or otherwise break the social contract as they've been pushing. so, yeah, it's going to be really tough. and i don't quite see how they get out of this. >> well, ana marie cox and ryan grim, thank you both for joining us and have a great holiday. >> thank you. >> happy thanksgiving. coming up, a progressive president with a mandate for change. what do you think he should focus on in his second term? plus, it's the knock down drag out fight in the gop. rush limbaugh versus chris christie. and at the end of the show, something we have never done on "politicsnation," a thanksgiving surprise. stay with us. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents the cold truth.

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what a place this is. my goodness, who could would have imagined pizza could build this. this is really something. don't you love this country? the grounds these r. the pool, the golf course. >> that was moum gushing over papa john's founder john schneider. during the campaign, papa john

became a key romney surrogate, attacking the president's health care law, saying obama care law will cost 11 to 14 cents per pizza. a whole extra dime for health care. oh, my, how are we supposed to afford that? it was a ridiculous argument. and now papa john has done a total about-face. he run an op-ed to say his critics have it all wrong. he's going to honor the law. in fact, papa john wrote, quote, the good news is that 100% of the population is going to get health insurance. i'm cool with that. he's cool with that? oh, thank heavens. i was so worried it was giving me heartburn. it also says, quote, this i get to provide health care insurance and not at all be at a

competitive disadvantage. yep, he's realized the health care law's not going anywhere so papa john started eating a big old piece of other pie. if only he talked to those republican governors who still want to stap the law in his tracts. they know all of the good law that it's doing. insurers can't charge women more than they do men. they have to offer more prescription coverage and can't jack up rates for older people. papa john's finally started serving up some reality. it's time the right wing grabbed a slice, too. how to fix plumber's butt, carefully remove the shirt. step four, double-check your

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the flu comes on fast, so ask your doctor about tamiflu. prescription for flu. christie! >> i'd like to thank some people, the red cross and first responders.

i'd also like to give a thank you to my lovely wife who has put up with her husband who has smelledfleece for the last three weeks. i'm going to die in this fleece. >> it is a good fleece. >> stop saying things i've already said. >> governor chris christie and his famous fleece on "saturday night live" and it's true, the governor has been fighting for weeks to bring back new jersey, back from hurricane sandy that devastated a huge part of the state and the voters are noticing christie's favorability rating is now at 67%. up 15 points since the storm. you don't see that much in american politics. in a state dominated by democrats, a state the president won by 17 points.

the message is clear, voters want action, not blind partisanship. here's what they are saying. do your job, find common ground, do it together. you would think other republicans would be getting the hint. but there's the problem. take a look at the republican so-called leaders who is in charge? who is in charge here? not marco rubio, not the rejected vp candidate paul ryan. bobby jindal is making noise lately but it's not hitch. mitch mcconnell is not it. his speaker john boehner is certainly not this charge. that leads to chris christie and rush limbaugh. the take charge governor who's getting from democrats versus the hard right radio show talk show host. how does this gop movie end? joining me now is melina,

contributor to "the grio" and margie omaro. the gop has a real rush problem. how do you see this ending? >> i don't mow. in 2009 james carville did a poll and found that rush limbaugh -- many people find that rush limbaugh is the leader of the republican party and that has not changed over the course of four years. rush doesn't need to run for any office. he's beholden to no one except for advertisers and viewers. so republican officials need to stand up to limbaugh first before they can really go out and get more votes in the broader sector of the electorate. >> but margie, is it risky for a republican to stand up to limbaugh when he's popular in

the vote unless the chris stooer example of standing up on the president and doing his job becomes a new model for our republicans to say, you know, maybe this is not as risky as i thought? >> i don't think it's risky. you're trying to reach more voters. you have to love the voter in order to be able to talk to the voter and if you are, as an elected official, beholden to rush limbaugh, who really puts -- pitting one group of voters against another, that's his m.o. and when he's talking about chris christie, we're talking about banishing people in the party for simply the optics of being bipartisan on an issue that could not be more bipartisan or nonpartisan. if the republican party wants to banish people for seeming too bipartisan in emergencies, that's really not a good way to attract more people across party lines which is what you need to

win elections. >> now, zelina, eric at media matters says the gop doesn't have a mitt romney problem, it has a conservative media problem. the split over romney's gift remark highlights the larger divide within the conservative movement between two distinct camps, activists and politicians who want to get republicans elected versus right-wing media players who want to grow their audience. >> right. voters are one thing but your audience is an entirely different thing. it's conservatives watching fox news and listening to rush limbaugh and conservative radio and the bottom line is, the gifts comment, i don't even like to think of it as gifts. i like to think of it as rights. voters went to the polls and voted so that they could have their rights, health care, affordable reproductive health care, my right to choose, things of that nature. so it's important that to note that conservative media is

pushing the line about gifts and that's why mitt romney echoed that because it's an echo chamber but voters went to the polls and exercised their right to vote in order to protect fundamental constitutional rights guaranteed to them. >> isn't it true, marge, that everyone votes on their interests and there is really cold language there calling it gifts like giveaways, like handouts? those are not gifts. that is why you vote in any democratic process. you vote for the people that you feel stand for what you believe and stand for the interests that you want to see served whether you personally need them or not. >> right. it certainly -- one person's gift is another person's policies. one person's gift is somebody who actually cares about me as opposed to saying i don't care about them and and who people

will actually fight for them and supports them and likes them and when you have this really divisive language, when you have this prioritizing bipartisanship, hyperpartisanship and bickering and fighting and nastiness and negativity, voters really reject it and that's why congress have record low approval and why barack obama got re-elected and that's why you're seeing all of this in fighting in the republican party. chris christie is actually seeing a lot of the benefits in the polls for his behavior in the last few weeks before the election. they really favored his handling of the hurricane crisis. >> and it's not even based on what you get personally. i don't live in new jersey but i respect what chris christie did. i'm not a woman but i was outraged on the war of women and it's not a interest but if you saw how the republican pundits

went after christy, let me show you some of it. >> we cannot be coward by them. when they say things that are insensitive, we need to go after them and say this is not right. we need real leadership within the party to say, you are alienating voters that we want to attract. knock it off. >> we've got to get kind of a party view of america that is not rush limbaugh's dream journal. >> should not be defined around who agrees with whatever outrageousness comes out of the mouths of the talk radio show hosts. >> the conservatives have been lied to by the conservative entir takenment. >> that's actually the tape that i was going to next of some of the moderates going after rush limbaugh and i mean saying that they were fleeced, some of the pundits are beginning to take on limbaugh but none of the gchlop leadership. >> when they have to run in a

primary, they are going to need rush limbaugh and other media conservatives and they need to get their audience. if they have a problem because they have to cater to that extreme element in order to oh get the nomination for whatever office they are running for. >> zelin aa and margie, thank y. have a great thanksgiving. >> thank you. the secret to term success. how president obama can turn his political victory in a historic legacy. and a very happy thanksgiving surprise for the end of the show. you'll definitely want to see this one. stay with us. lets you hear it... in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. mmm... [ male announcer ] sounds good. it's amazing what soup can do.

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just two weeks after the election, it was all about domestic issues. president obama is grappling with a big tested foreign affairs to work on rising violence and she announced a cease fire. how will he address the opportunities here at home? the progressive agenda he talked about on election night.

>> freeing ourselves and weakened by inequality and we know in our hearts that the united states. millions of americans agree. they hope the best is yet to come. joining us is douglas brinkley, author of the new biography, "cronkite." you've spoken to the president many times.

where do you think he sees the greatest opportunity for success in his second term? >> well, he has something he calls -- he says a lot in his speeches fair shake. he wants to be remembered by a term like that that he spread fairness in the united states. the schools have to be competitive with math and science teachers and the affordable care act part of law of the land, something like social security, medicaid and medicare. all of the points that we know about him as he cares about the middle class and people in poverty and i think he's staking out a claim that they are not going to be left behind bringing more people into the prosperity of the united states and in a second term dealing with global warming climate change. on that i suspect you'll see him hold a summit after all it's not just affecting the united states. every country is being affected by the warmer climate.

>> well, we've had second term as presidents who have had achievements and failures. ronald reagan tax reform, be bill clinton, balanced the budget. george bush, privatizing social securi security. where do president succeed and fail in their second term? >> the biggest opportunity is to push something forward something can can come out of crisis. dwight eisenhower responded with the creation of nasa and santa barbara oil spill took place in the cuyahoga river in ohio was on fire and nixon with the democratic congress and the president is going to have to capitalize on the crisis of the moment. you mentioned peace in the middle east. all presidents have been trying to do that. i think it's worked and the secretary of state is to pick up

this baton overtur of today and keep working on middle east peace conference and call america pacific and work on better trade relations with china and the whole far east. >> should he look at where americans are in terms of their support of policies, for example, 51% support guy marriage, 57% support a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, 67% favor raising tax, 68% say climate change in a problem. should he go at issues that most of the american public are with today? >> well, as we all know, he's got to deal with the so-called fiscal cliff right now. it will be resolved and i think the climate is right for immigration reform. he's going to have six months where he's going to do real business for congress. if they stimy him and they haven't seemed to evolve out of

the whooping that just took place, the president is going to have to use executive power and authority. on an issue like climate there are many cases to be made that an executive doesn't need to work with congress because it's a national security. how many more record wildfires burning colorado he a new mek co-do we need? he's going to be able to lead regardless of whether congress wants to deal with him. let's hope that congressman boehner and others will get on the page of the president. >> douglas brinkley, thank you for your time tonight and a happy thanksgiving to you. >> back at you. >> coming up next, a "politicsnation" first. i had a dream. actually, it was more like a nightmare. you'll see it.

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i had a terrible nightmare last night. i dreamed governor rahm won the election. how did he celebrate, you asked, well, the guy who loves to take over companies took over something else. the thanksgiving day parade. like i said, it was a real nightmare. >> republican thanksgiving day parade. the gop stars are out in force. forget the turkey this year. we've got a turkey performance by meat loaf and what would it be without governor romney himself. ♪ above the fruited plain >> plus, who needs snoopy when you've got this new character balloon hitting the fall sky for the first time, rush limbaugh.

he has enough air to stay up there until christmas. speaker john boehner, newt gingrich, and chris christie. wait a minute, guys. why didn't anyone proof this script? he's not invited to any mother republican functions. and to cap it all off, the superstar of the super parade, santa claus. well, wait a second. apologies once again, santa has been canceled. he's been giving out too many gifts. you're watching the first annual republican thanksgiving day parade sponsored by p90x. we send it out to the reverend al sharpton. >> happy thanksgiving, everyone. i'm honored to be your host for this year's republican thanksgiving day parade. let's get right to it. you're looking at live pictures of the parade route. you might be asking yourself where is everyone?

well, 47% of america was told to stay home and not everyone had photo i.d. so they weren't allowed in either. you can thank attorney general scott walker for that one. heck of a job. and now to the musical performance everyone in the gop has been waiting for. meat loaf. take it away. ♪ from satisea to shining sea ♪ >> just fantastic. what a way to start. you might be hearing screams in the background. that's because we've got a real crowd pleaser coming. say hello to clint eastwood and his empty chair. clint's saying goes, make my day. let me tell you, that chair is making a lot of people's day on the parade route.

secretary of science todd akin. he's drinking in all of the festivities. and check out romney cabinet donald trump working the crowd. he's back from another fact finding mission in kenya. don't think he found anything. oh, wow, here comes the yellow bird that they were talking about this year. of course, i'm talking about big bird. whoa. what's that in mr. romney's hand? i think he's trying to pop that bird. can't say i didn't see that one coming. what a day out here. let's see. here comes an empty float. oh, i see. all of the people on it actually self-departed. the crowd here just loves that. and i'm hearing we have a special guest along the parade route. and here's the new secretary of state, speaker gingrich. what are you guys excited about.

>> ironically, no elephants at this parade. scary, scary. i know what i'm thankful for this year. that was just a dream. have a happy and safe thanksgiving, everyone. thanks for watching. i'm al sharpton. "hardball" starts right now. let's play "hardball." good evening i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start with this. being right means never havi